As 2016 quickly approaches, Republicans are struggling to find top recruits in a trio of competitive House districts in California — a state where the party has suffered defeat at the congressional level for decades.

The National Republican Congressional Committee sent a staffer out to the Golden State last week to search for and meet with potential candidates and convince them to run in competitive districts in San Diego, Palm Springs and Sacramento, according to a source with knowledge of the visit.

Schneider is running for an open Santa Barbara House seat. (Meredith Dake/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Seeking to avoid a contentious primary, some national Democrats have been working behind the scenes to force Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider out of a competitive open-seat House contest in California's 24th District.

But Schneider has no plans to bow out of the race, and on Wednesday released a poll showing a slight lead in a primary against the candidate national Democrats prefer: Santa Barbara County Supervisor Salud Carbajal.

Murkowski, right, and her father are among those who claim a family legacy in Congress. (CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Updated 11 a.m. | When nine-term Democratic Rep. Lois Capps announced her retirement , all eyes turned to a potential successor: her daughter.

A nonprofit consultant and community activist who has never run for office, Laura Burton Capps has long been seen as a possible successor to her mother. (Her father Walter Capps first held the seat, but died after just nine months in office. Lois Capps won a special election to succeed him.)

Republicans have landed a top recruit for a competitive open-seat House race in California.

State Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian will launch his campaign Friday in the race to replace retiring Democratic Rep. Lois Capps in the coastal Santa Barbara-based 24th District. Achadjian will hold a kick-off event at 2 p.m. ET at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse, according to a news release. His state Assembly district overlaps with a large portion of the congressional district, and the release already lists a line of local elected officials backing his candidacy.

Updated 2:24 p.m. | California Rep. Lois Capps announced Wednesday she will not run for re-election.

Capps, 77, has represented the Santa Barbara, Calif.-based 24th District since 1998. The Democrat ran in a special election that year to replace her husband, Walter Capps, who died of a heart attack less than a year into his first term in Congress.

Polls conducted for two California Republicans found close races in Democratic-leaning districts that rank among the GOP's targets for November.

According to memos released by their campaigns, former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado (R) trailed Rep. Lois Capps (D) by 2 points in the 24th district, and Long Beach City Councilman Gary DeLong (R) trailed state Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D) by 3 points in the 47th district.